76 | Suveniri » Souvenirs LAJFSTAJ L / L I FESTYLE it needed to be mass-produced—and that’s how America joined the story. In1927, aPittsburghmannamedJosephGarajafiled hispatent application.His real contributiontosnowglobe manufacturingwas converting themfromexpensivemementos thatwere individually crafted to items that could be cheaplymass-producedandsold. But thebigboomfor snowglobes came–as it did for somany itemsbeforeand since – with the magic of a movie. In the 1940 film Kitty Foyle, starring Ginger Rogers, the young Kitty shakes a snow globe containing the figure of a girl on a sledge. Sales skyrocketed by 200 per cent after the film’s release. The next year, OrsonWelles’ CitizenKane sealed the glory. Perzy’s companymade a little log cabin for themonumental opening scene. Charles Kane dies with the word “rosebud” on his lips, and the snow globe drops fromhis hand and shatters. Legendary! By the 1950s, innovations in plastics and injection-moulding ensured that snow globes could be made even more cheaply. The industry continued to grow. By the 1980s, snow globes were still a staple of the gift industry, but they’d also become the epitome of kitsch— probably because everyone and everything could be put under glass and forced to endure frequent snowstorms. Oddlyenough, snowglobes remainbigbusiness, and Erwin Perzy III’s company remains healthy, with his Vienna shop producing upwards of 200,000 snow globes annually. This may symbolise how much it has become part of culture, but also how a piece of innocent kitsch can be a source of joy packed in a strange, sometimes creepy, but alsowonderful, little globe. So, why not gift a modest snowglobe to someone you love thisChristmas? Ukoliko se zateknete u Beču, ne propustiteMuzej snežnih kugli If you happen to find yourself in Vienna, don’t miss the museum of snow globes FOTO: Deposiphotos / Ekler FOTO: Deposiphotos / Rakchai
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